2003-01-0418
Performance and operational characteristics of a
hybrid vehicle powered by fuel cells and supercapacitors
Felix Büchi, Martin Bärtschi, Akinori Tsukada, Philipp Dietrich,
Rüdiger Kötz, Günther Scherer, Alexander Wokaun
Copyright © 2003 Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc.
ABSTRACT
The paper presents experimental results of a fuel cell
powered electric vehicle equipped with supercapacitors.
This hybrid vehicle is part of an ongoing collaboration
between the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI, Switzerland), the
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETHZ), and several
industrial partners. It is equipped with a fuel cell system
with a nominal power of 48 kW and with supercapacitors
that have a storage capacity of 360 Wh. Extensive tests
have been performed on a dynamometer and on the road
to investigate the operating ability. The highlights of these
tests were the successful trial runs across the Simplon
Pass in the Swiss Alps in January 2002.
The fuel cell system consists of an array of six stacks with
125 cells each and an active area of 200 cm2. The stacks
are electrically connected as two parallel strings of three
stacks each in series in order to match the voltage
requirement of the powertrain. The reactant gases and the
cooling liquid are fed in parallel through a manifold.
The supercapacitors are sized for peak power levelling to
assist the fuel cell during hard acceleration. Moreover, the
supercapacitors are used to store the energy obtained from
regenerative braking and serve to optimize the vehicle
efficiency.
Polarization curves, efficiency data of the fuel cell system
and fuel consumption data from the New European Driving
Cycle are presented. The transient behavior of the fuel cell
system and its influence on the performance of the vehicle
are analyzed.
INTRODUCTION
In the past Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells (PEFC) were
exclusively used in aerospace or military applications. The
demands on PEFCs in those fields differ greatly from those
1
Paul Rodatz, Olivier Garcia, Lino Guzzella
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH)
Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, Switzerland
in automotive applications, where the pressure of costs is
much more severe. Furthermore, the reduction of volume
and weight are at the center of ongoing research. Most
often these demands can only be satisfied at the expense
of efficiency or other parameters. In the automotive
application the PEFC has to compete against the internal
combustion engine, which has a power density in the range
of 1 kW/kg. This value is still hard to meet with a fuel cell
propulsion system.
PEFCs have a substantially higher part-load efficiency than
internal combustion engines. As passenger vehicles are
mostly operated under part-load conditions the use of
PEFCs permits significantly lower fuel consumption. The
high torque output of electric motors represents a further
advantage of fuel cell propulsion systems. As electric
motors offer a high torque output even at low speeds, fuel
cell vehicle have a remarkably good acceleration behavior.
Combined with an electrical storage device (such as
batteries or supercapacitors) at least part of the braking
energy can be recuperated, which leads to a further
reduction in fuel consumption.
In the last decade a variety of demonstration vehicles have
been presented by the major car manufacturers.
DaimlerChyrsler has been playing an important role in the
research of fuel cell powered vehicles, as their prototype
series has already reached the fifth generation with the
Necar 5. But manufacturers such as Ford, GM, Toyota,
Nissan, Honda and many others as well have made
considerable progress in their efforts toward mass
producing fuel cell cars in the near future (e.g. [1]).
Nevertheless, numerous problems have to be solved yet
before an attractive fuel cell powered vehicle will be
available on the market. The objective of this work was to
build an experimental fuel cell vehicle that can be used to
explore the performance of new materials and system
architectures, hence giving insights for further
developments.
In the two sections following this introduction the vehicle
concept and the fuel cell system setup, respectively, are
presented. Some general observations concerning the fuel
cell system and results from experiments performed on a
dynamic test bench are discussed in the fourth section.
The fifth section titled vehicle performance is divided into
three subsections. First, the transient vehicle behavior is
analysed. Next the in-vehicle performance of the fuel cell
system is presented and, finally, results from drive cycle
tests are shown. The conclusion section sums up the
insights gained in course of this project.
VEHICLE CONCEPT
With the knowledge gained from a small pilot system (less
than 10 kW), the test vehicle (see Fig. 1) was equipped in
early 2002. It is based on a Volkswagen Bora (a 5-seat
sedan vehicle known in the U.S. as VW Jetta) and was
modified to accommodate the new powertrain. The test
vehicle is equipped with a hybrid powertrain in which the
fuel cell acts as the primary power source. The
supercapacitors supplement the fuel cell with enough
instantaneous power to achieve good driving performance
and allow the capture of regenerative braking energy.
Fig. 1: Test vehicle “Hy.Power”
Supercapacitors are electrical storage devices with a high
power density. Their energy density is up to one hundred
times higher than that of conventional capacitors, and their
power density is up to ten times higher than that of
batteries. With their wide operating temperature range and
their long lifetime, supercapacitors are the short-term
storage elements of choice. Jointly developed by PSI and
Montena SA, the supercapacitors installed in the vehicle
each have a rated capacitance of 1600 F with a rated
voltage of 2.5V. Altogether, the 282 pair-wise connected
supercapacitors provide a storage capacity of 360 Wh and
are able to provide 50 kW for a duration of roughly 15 s.
The maximum voltage of the supercapacitor module is 360
V. An active voltage-balancing unit mounted on the
supercapacitors serves to balance the cell voltage inside
the module and to avoid the overcharging of specific cells.
2
Fig. 2 shows the configuration of the powertrain. The
vehicle is powered by an AC motor with a permanent power
output of 45 kW, a peak power output of 75 kW, and a
maximum torque of 255 Nm (all values apply to an input
voltage of 280 V). The input voltage of the motor inverter is
kept at a constant high voltage, thereby assuring the
highest possible motor torque and good efficiency over the
whole speed range. Fuel cell and supercapacitors are
connected to a DC link by means of DC-DC converters [2].
A supervisory controller is used to actively regulate the
power flow between motor inverter, fuel cell and
supercapacitors. A one-step transmission without a clutch
completes the powertrain.
Supercap
=
=
= =
Fuel Cell DC Link E-Motor
=
Auxiliary
Units
Fig. 2: Outline of powertrain
Two 26-liter tanks store the hydrogen at a pressure of up to
350 bar. This amounts to roughly 1.05 kg of hydrogen,
which is equivalent to about 4 liters of gasoline. The vehicle
has a range of 50 to 100 km depending on the drive cycle.
The total weight of the test vehicle amounts to roughly 2000
kg.
Supervisory Control–A predefined energy management is
used to control the energy flows between fuel cells,
supercapacitors and electric motor. It serves to optimize
these flows with regard to the consumption of hydrogen.
The requirements on an ideal energy management are
numerous, with the main three being the following:
1. Fulfill all power demands
2. Recuperate as much braking energy as possible
3. Ensure minimum fuel consumption
Under certain circumstances these demands are mutually
conflicting. To achieve good acceleration, the fuel cells
have to be assisted by the supercapacitors, which therefore
should be fully charged and thus cannot absorb any
recuperated energy. The conflicts are resolved with the
help of different priorities assigned to the various demands,
the highest priority being the satisfaction of the power
demand at all times.
A number of security aspects have to be considered at the
highest priority level. These include:
• supercapacitors must not be overcharged
• supercapacitors may not be discharged below 25% of
 maximum energy storage capacity (because of deterio-
rating efficiency)
• charging and discharging currents of supercapacitors
may not exceed certain limits to avoid overload of
power electronics
• the current drawn from the fuel cells may not exceed
the current that the fuel cells are able to supply (impor-
tant during warm-up and fast load changes)
Any energy management will result in a compromise
between good acceleration and yielding high recuperation
of braking energy. Based on the assumption that with
increasing vehicle speed the need for strong acceleration
decreases and the amount of energy that can be
recuperated increases, the following energy management
may be designed. At low vehicle speeds (e.g., below 60
km/h) the supercapacitors should be charged to a high
degree, whereas with increasing speed they are
discharged gradually to allow the recuperation of as much
braking energy as possible. The exact gradients are a
function of the power drawn by the electric motor.
Only the desired fuel cell power calculated by the
supervisory controller is sent to the DC-DC converter as a
reference value. The fuel cell DC-DC converter transfers
the requested power PFC from the fuel cell to the DC link.
The supercapacitor DC-DC converter controls the voltage
of the DC link to its nominal value. Hence the difference
between the motor inverter power PD and the fuel cell
power PFC is transferred to/from the supercapacitors. The
inverter power PD may be restricted by the supervisory
controller if it exceeds the momentary maximum combined
output of the fuel cell and the supercapacitors. Similarly,
during braking the amount of regenerative braking may be
limited, depending on the state of charge of the
supercapacitors. This mode of operation ensures the power
balance between all components while keeping the DC link
voltage very stable.
For further information about the supervisory controller, the
interested reader is referred to reference [3].
The control algorithms are centrally managed by a
dSpace™ MicroAutoBox (MABX) 1401/1504. It has a
Motorola™ PowerPC 603e running at 200 MHz with a slave
processor to handle the digital I/O units. Matlab/Simulink™
is used to program the control algorithms. Logical
sequences were programmed with the help of the Matlab
toolbox Stateflow™. Euler’s method was chosen as solver
with a fixed step size of 5 ms.
The MABX has only a limited number of I/O units.
Therefore, the communication between the sensors and
the MABX, as well as the communication to the actuators is
handled by a CAN-Bus. For this purpose the highly flexible
WAGOTM 750 CANopen series is installed, which is a
modular I/O system. Modules are available for almost every
type of sensor signal or actuator output and the
configuration can be expanded easily by adding additional
elements.
3
FUEL CELL SYSTEM
The direct-hydrogen fuel cell system can be divided into
three main subsystems according to the fluid that is
handled:
• air subsystem: supply of the process air at the required
pressure, flow rate, temperature, and humidity
• H2 subsystem: supply of hydrogen at the required pres-
sure and flow rate
• cooling subsystem: guarantee adequate cooling of fuel
cell stacks and ensure small temperature gradient
across stacks
System Components–The air subsystem consists of a
compressor, a humidifier, and a pressure control valve. The
compressor is integrated into a feedback loop containing a
flow meter and a PI controller which regulates the air flow.
Water is injected into the pressure side of the compressor
to cool down the hot air to cell temperature. As a desirable
side effect, the air humidity is also increased to the benefit
of the stack operation [4].
The hydrogen subsystem has to supply enough fuel to the
stacks under all operating conditions. Furthermore, water
droplets from the anode side of the cells have to be
removed so as not to block the reaction sites. The hydrogen
supply subsystem is a closed circuit. It is pressure
regulated and the hydrogen influx depends only on the
pressure drop in the stacks caused by the depletion of
hydrogen due to the electrochemical reaction.
Satisfactory dynamics of the fuel cell power output require
a supply of excess hydrogen to the stacks. An ejector is
used to recirculate the excess hydrogen and thus to
prevent wasting any hydrogen to the surrounding.
Experiments have shown that a shock wave generated
across a ventilation valve induces a temporarily increased
influx of hydrogen in the fuel cell flow field. An additional
benefit is that the diffusion layer situated between the flow
channel and the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) is
dynamically inflected by the shock wave which causes any
liquid water droplets that may have formed inside the fuel
cell to be dispersed. Furthermore, the liquid particles are
blown out from the fuel cell, allowing for the delivery of
additional hydrogen and thus preventing reactant starvation
in parts of the cell. The shock waves are generated with a
solenoid valve and a vacuum vessel. Similarly, if the
pressure inside the vessel is higher than the pressure in the
fuel cell, shock waves above the system pressure are
induced. A detailed description of this procedure may be
found in [5].
The closed cooling loop includes a variable-speed electric
pump and an air-water heat exchanger with two stepwise
variable-speed fans. Since the cooling media is de-ionized
water, special precautions have to be taken to prevent
freezing. Additionally, the low operating temperature of the
fuel cell stacks and the limited frontal area of the vehicle
create major problems for heat rejection, especially at
higher ambient temperatures.
Fuel Cell Stack–Adequate performance under conditions of
an automotive application, low degradation over time and
the possibility for optimized preparation procedures are the
aims that have guided the selection process of the
electrochemical components. Commercially available
membranes (Nafion 112, DuPont) and electrodes (ELAT, E-
Tek) were evaluated and the respective preparation and
assembly procedures were developed. The bipolar plate
(BIP) is a multifunctional part, which represents the largest
volumetric part of the stack. The BIP has to distribute the
air and hydrogen to the membrane-electrode-assembly
(MEA), support the cooling of the MEA, prevent the mixing
or leaking of the different media and conduct the current
between electrochemical cells. A new bipolar plate was
developed in order to reduce volume and weight. During
the design phase, special attention was paid to the
optimization of the manufacturing process of the bipolar
plates.
The new components were tested in a single cell with less
than 100 W output. Single cells were then stacked in series
through the optimized bipolar plate to form multi-kW stacks.
The scale-up from a single cell to a 125-cell stack was
realized with only small deviations among the stacks. Six
stacks were assembled to an array in order to generate a
power output of several tens of kW. This modularity of a fuel
cell system, however, also has certain disadvantages. The
main disadvantage is the large number of parts that are
needed for powerful systems. The array of six stacks
shown in Fig. 3, contains more than 5000 parts. Most of
these parts had to be handled, prepared, checked and
finally assembled individually. Except for a few standard
Fig. 3: Array of six stacks. The manifold plate behind the stacks
supplies media to the different stacks
4
parts such as screws, springs, and tie rods, all parts were
individually designed.
The six stacks are electrically connected as two parallel
strings of three stacks each in series in order to match the
voltage requirement of the powertrain. The reactant gases
and the cooling liquid are fed in parallel through a manifold
plate. The parallel arrangement of six stacks requires the
equal distribution of the reactant flow across 19500
channels (6 stacks * 125 cells per stack * 26 flow channels
per cell). The challenge of this task is demonstrated by the
measurement results of a 100-cell stack shown in Fig. 4. At
approximately 35 min. the hydrogen stochiometry was
reduced to 1.1. Even though 10% excess hydrogen was fed
to the stack, a number of cells experience a steep voltage
drop. At 39 min. the hydrogen flow was set to the original
high stochiometry and all cells recovered.
1.5
1.4
1.3
2-Cell Voltages [V]
1.2
1.1
1.0
0.9
0.8
0.7
30 32 34 36 38 40
Time [min]
Fig. 4: Effect of low hydrogen stochiometry on cell voltages. Every
line shows the voltage over two cells of a 100 cell stack. At
about 35 min. the stochiometry was reduced to 1.1.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The standard test conditions were as follows: stack
temperature 70 °C, gradient of cooling water across stacks
∆ T 5-8 °C, gas pressures 2 bar (absolute) at exit,
stoichiometries of 2 for both reactant gases, and dew
points of 55 and 50 °C for hydrogen and air, respectively.
Under these conditions each stack generated an output of
8 kW at a voltage of 0.6 V (an efficiency based on the lower
heating value (LHV) of about 50%). Therefore, the array of
six stacks should have a combined power output of 48 kW.
This power is generated if the process gas flow into the
array is distributed equally across all cells and flow
channels. Especially on the hydrogen side this is difficult to
accomplish as the hydrogen flow is considerably smaller
than the air flow.
The results from the single-stack experiments were
irreproducible with the array of six stacks due to difficulties
in the gas supply. When the power output was increased
beyond 20 kW, the voltage became unstable (see Fig. 5).
Larger than expected amounts of liquid water accumulated
at the anode. Although the shock waves were very effective
in the single-stack arrangement, the complexity of the
piping caused the effect to be insufficient to remove all the
water from the anode in the array setup. As a
consequence, the anode is increasingly flooded by water,
hydrogen is prevented from reaching the reaction site, the
local reactant is starved and the reaction breaks down. The
magnitude of this phenomenon rises with increasing
current as more water is produced in the course of the
reaction. In one attempt to improve matters a purge valve
was installed through which hydrogen was continuously
purged to the surrounding. This led to an increased
hydrogen flow in the fuel cell and hence to a easing of the
anode flooding. Of course this improvement was gained at
the cost of efficiency as hydrogen was wasted to the
surrounding.
Fig. 5 demonstrates the beneficial effect of purging. For
these experiments the net power output of the fuel cell was
increased in steps of 2 kW. A minimum of 20 seconds was
allowed for the voltage to settle down after each step. The
setup without the purge valve is represented by gray lines.
Also shown is the setup with the purge valve (black lines).
Every stack voltage is plotted separately, therefore each
case is displayed as a family of curves. The voltage of the
setup without purge valve is noticeably lower and the
difference between the two cases grows with increasing
power. Furthermore, the voltage starts to oscillate above 10
kW, becoming unstable at 22 kW and forcing the system to
be turned off.
120
100
Voltage [V]/ Power [kW]
80
with purge valve
without purge valve
60
40
current
20
0 from the test bench for various net power values of the fuel
0 100 200
time [s]
Fig. 5: Comparison of voltage behavior for experiments with and
without purge valve. Net power was increased in steps of 2 kW.
At least 20 s was allowed for the voltage to settle down
The same data is presented in Fig. 6 as a voltage-current
graph. It confirms that with a purge valve the oscillation
spectrum is reduced and mass transport limitations are
avoided. However, the purge valve can only be a temporary
solution since hydrogen is wasted. In a future setup this
hydrogen should be recirculated by means of a pump.
Test bench–A dynamic test bench at the Measurement and
Control Laboratory of the Swiss Federal Institute of
Technology Zurich was used for extensive testing of the
with purge valve
120
without purge valve
110
U [V]
100
90
80
70
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4
i [A/cm2]
Fig. 6: Current-Voltage plot of experiments from Fig. 5.
Experiments with purge valve show a more stable voltage.
powertrain. The test bench by APICOM, type SM L-4,
consists of an asynchronous electric motor/generator,
power electronics, and feedback controllers. The main test
bench signals are the brake torque and speed. The torque
was measured with a torque meter placed between the
brake and the electric vehicle motor. No gearbox was
mounted between the vehicle motor and the brake. The test
bench was operated in a speed controlled mode, causing
any power limitations to appear in the torque profile rather
than in the speed profile.
voltage
The main objective of those tests was to demonstrate the
operativeness of the powertrain and to eliminate any
problems before its final assembly into the vehicle.
Ordinary drive cycles (NEDC, ftp, etc.) are not sufficiently
demanding to include all the operating conditions of the
powertrain. Therefore, a ride across the Simplon-Pass
between Brig and Gondo in the Swiss Alps was recorded
using an electric vehicle with conventional batteries. Fig. 7
depicts the speed profile of the first 6 km recorded on the
beginning slope of the Simplon Pass, whereas Fig. 8 shows
net power the torque profile. Figs. 8 to 12 show measurement results
300 cell. Fig. 9 shows the power drawn by the motor inverter
from the DC link as well as the reference value recorded
during the drive across the Simplon Pass. Fig. 10 depicts
the total power output of the fuel cell. Since the total
includes the power consumed by the air compressor, the
values are higher than those of the net output. Fig. 11
shows the fuel cell voltage averaged over the two strings.
The supercapacitor voltage is shown in Fig. 12. For the
purpose of achieving a satisfactory charge/discharge
efficiency, the supercapacitors are not discharged below
25% of the maximum energy storage capacity. This
corresponds to 50% of the maximum voltage, hence at 180
V the supercapacitors are considered empty.
This series of measurements was conducted with the
purge valve installed. Nevertheless, at a net power output
of the fuel cell of 30 kW, the fuel cell voltage again started
5
 7 40

6
Motor Speed [rpm/1000]

Fuel Cell Power [kW]

30
5
26 kW
4 28 kW
30 kW
20
3

2
10
1

0 0
0 100 200 300 0 100 200 300
time [sec] time [sec]

Fig. 7: Speed profile of the first 6 km of the ride across the Simplon Fig. 10: Total fuel cell power (incl. compressor power) for different net
Pass fuel cell power levels on Simplon Cycle

350
reference value
Fuel Cell Voltage [V]

100
Motor Torque [Nm]

26 kW
28 kW
30 kW
50 300

0
26 kW
28 kW
30 kW
250
0 100 200 300 0 100 200 300
time [sec] time [sec]
Fig. 8: Torque profile of the first 6 km up the Simplon Pass and the test Fig. 11: Average fuel cell voltage of the two strings for various net fuel
bench measurements for different net fuel cell power levels cell power levels on Simplon Cycle

reference value 350

60
Supercap Voltage [V]

26 kW
40 28 kW
300
Power [kW]

26 kW 30 kW
20

0 250
26 kW
28 kW
−20 30 kW
200
−40
0 100 200 300 0 100 200 300
time [sec] time [sec]
Fig. 9: Reference value and measurement of the power drawn by the Fig. 12: Total supercapacitor voltage for different net fuel cell power
motor inverter from the DC link for different net fuel cell power levels on Simplon Cycle
levels

6
to oscillate. Therefore, no experiments were performed
beyond 30 kW. Until approximately 100 sec after start of 60
PEM,limit
experiment no or only small differences between the
experiments are visible and the torque reference is quite 50
well matched. All three experiments have in common that PEM
as soon as top speed is achieved the supercapacitors are 40

Power [kW]
near depletion. This is consistent with the strategy
30
described earlier in which the supercapacitors are
discharged at high velocity to accommodate for any
20
recuperation energy. However, at subsequent accelerations
the supercapacitors are no longer able to assist the fuel 10
cell. Therefore, the requested torque is limited by the PFC,net PSC
supervisory controller and the power drawn by the inverter 0
is restricted to the current fuel cell power output. Large
deviation from the torque reference thus cannot be 0 10 20 30
avoided. Obviously, higher levels of fuel cell net power time [sec]
attenuate this behavior.
Fig. 13: Transient response of motor inverter power PEM, fuel cell net
power PFC and supercapacitor PSC. For this experiment the fuel cell
VEHICLE PERFORMANCE net power was limited to 24 kW, the maximum fuel cell net power
gradient was set to 1 kW/s.
Transient Vehicle Behavior–The transient response of the
powertrain to a fast acceleration demand from standstill is 120
shown in Figs. 13 through 15. For this response experiment
the maximum fuel cell net power was limited to 24 kW, the
100
Current [A] / Voltage [V]

maximum gradient on fuel cell power was 1 kW/s, and the

voltage
supercapacitor current was restricted to 125 A. The fuel cell
80
power gradient is very conservative since under normal
operation it is set to 2.5 kW/s.
60
As evident in Fig. 15 the torque response to the driver’s
input is very fast; maximum torque is achieved in about one 40
current
second. With increasing motor speed the power drawn by
the inverter continues to rise up to the limit given by the 20
supervisory controller (see Fig. 13). The power is mainly
provided by the supercapacitors, as the power response 0
0 10 20 30
from the fuel cell is much slower. The supercapacitors are
time [sec]
continuously discharged, thus causing the voltage to drop.
As the supercapacitor current is already at the allowed Fig. 14: Transient response of fuel cell voltage and current. Arrows
indicate voltage undershoot and current overshoot.
limit, it cannot be increased to compensate the decreasing
voltage and to achieve a constant power output. The
inverter limit remains unchanged for a long time, as the 300
drop in supercapacitor power is made up by the fuel cell
250
power which is slowly building up. However, to achieve a
constant torque output, the inverter power would need to be 200
Torque [Nm]

increased. Consequently, the torque is reduced. Once the

supercapacitors are nearly depleted, the power output is 150
gradually brought down to zero and the vehicle is supplied
only from the fuel cell. Fig. 14 shows the responses of the 100
fuel cell voltage and current. Clearly visible are the
undershoot of the voltage and the overshoot of the current. 50
The voltage undershoot results from a temporary shortage
0
in hydrogen due to a slow response of the supply system.
The current overshoots to compensate the voltage drop as −50
the fuel cell is power controlled. Slight deviations in stack 0 10 20 30
resistance lead to varying string resistance and therefore to time [sec]
somewhat different string currents after the voltage has Fig. 15: Transient response of motor torque
settled down.

The acceleration performance of the vehicle (with a

maximum fuel cell power of 27 kW and a gradient of 1

7
kW/s) was measured to be 15 sec for 0-80 km/h and 50 sec
for 0-100 km/h. The large difference between these two
values is due to the limited capacity of the supercapacitors
which does not allow for faster accelerations up to a speed
of 100 km/h. A top speed of 115 km/h was achieved.
In-Vehicle Performance–In this section, stack performance
and cell ageing are discussed. Plots (a) through (f) in Fig.
16 shows the polarization curves for all stacks after
different operating stages. The cell performance and the
obtained data was divided into four stages, namely (1)
experiments on the dynamic test bench, (2) operation in the
vehicle after final assembly, (3) operation in the vehicle
after some cells in stack 3 were damaged due to exposure
to negative voltage and (4) operation in vehicle after
damaged cells were replaced. All markers represent
operating points under stationary conditions and a stack
temperature of at least 50 °C. Plot (g) shows the
polarization curve averaged over all six stacks. The
following equation [6] was used to fit the data:
E = E 0 – b log i – Ri
(1)
E 0 = E r + b log i 0
where E is the cell voltage, b and i0 are the Tafel slope and
the exchange current density respectively, i is the current
density, R is the ohmic resistance and Er is the reversible
potential.
Table 1: Parameters of equation 1 derived from averaged stack data
E0 b R
V V decade-1 Ohm cm-2
Testbench experiments 115.6 2.964 0.225
vehicle operation 115.5 2.698 0.232
vehicle operation with 113.9 2.142 0.251
damaged stack
vehicle operation after 116.6 4.259 0.180
repair
As mentioned above the stacks are ordered as follows:
stacks 1 to 3 as well as stacks 4 to 6 are connected in
series. The two strings are connected in parallel resulting in
an equal string voltage. Stacks 3 and 6 are located at the
bottom of the array, 2 and 5 in the middle and 1 and 4 at the
top. A manifold plate is attached to one side of the array, as
shown in Fig. 3. The reactant gases and the cooling
medium are supplied to each stack from this manifold. The
reactant gases and the cooling are fed at the bottom of the
manifold and have to rise the height of the array to reach
the two uppermost stacks. Therefore, any flooding is most
likely to start at stacks 3 and 6. This was confirmed by the
observation that the cells located near the entrances of
stacks 3 and 6 were always among the first cells to fail.
The transition from the test bench to the vehicle was
accomplished without any voltage degradation, on the
8
contrary even slight improvements were observed. The fuel
cell array is located in the rear of the vehicle in a closed and
sealed compartment which under operating conditions is
heated up by convection from the fuel cell to the stack
temperature. The pipes and fittings leading from the
compressor and humidifier to the fuel cell are thus heated
up to the stack temperature. This is in contrast to the test
bench setup where the stacks are surrounded by ambient
air at room temperature leading to a constant heat
convection from the pipes to the ambient air and a
decrease in the temperature of the air flow along the length
of the pipe. Therefore, oversaturated air enters the fuel cell
and liquid water blocks part of the reaction site.
In the course of the vehicle testing a number of cells in
stack 3 were severely damaged due to longtime exposure
to negative voltage. This failure prevented that the initial
stack voltage was reached. The stack voltage was lower by
as much as 5 V. Nevertheless, due to the tight testing
schedule, the drive tests had to be continued and the failed
cells were ignored. Subsequent investigations revealed that
several hotspots had formed in the failed cells leading to
holes in the membrane and even to local melting of the
bipolar plates.
After the replacement of the damaged cells, the initial
performance of stack 3 was restored. However, in the
course of the experiments the stack voltages began to
deteriorate. The extent of the degradation varied from stack
to stack, with stacks 3 and 6 most heavily effected.
Explanations for this phenomenon must remain tentative
since very little information on the effects of excessive
dryness or flooding of the MEA is found in the literature. On
our testbench only a coarse filter was installed in the air
intake fitting. Therefore, dirt may have been sucked into the
air system and consequently into the fuel cell where it may
lead to a contamination of sensitive areas of the MEA.
Even though precautions have been taken to avoid
corrosion in the humidification system, the possibility of
corrosion can never be ruled out completely. Again, any
particles washed into the fuel cell cause contaminations of
the fuel cell. The longtime exposure to excess water or,
worse yet, flooding helps to distribute the poison to
extended areas in the MEA. St-Pierre et al. reported that
contamination of the MEA by impurities led to a
replacement of H+ions by foreign cations and a reduced
conductivity proportional to the ionic charge [7]. The
degradation may also result from a reduction of the catalyst
surface area, as reported by Wilson et al. [8].
Stacks 3 and 6, which are located at the bottom of the
array, are exposed to larger amounts of water than the
other stacks. Therefore, the degradation is most visible
here. However, contrarily to the observations by St-Pierre
et al. and Wilson et al. this degradation seems to stem
mostly from a reduced kinetic performance. During the last
operating stage the Tafel slope b has increased
considerably (see Table 1). Furthermore, Fig. 16 shows
that the deviation from the initial polarization curve builds
up in the region of low current density and then stays
 (a) (b) (c) Testbench
115 115 115 Vehicle
Vehicle with damaged S3
110 110 110 Vehicle after repair

105 105 105

100 100 100

95 95 95

Stack 1 voltage [V]

Stack 2 voltage [V]
Stack 3 voltage [V]
90 90 90

85 85 85

80 80 80
0 0.2 0.4 0 0.2 0.4 0 0.2 0.4

Fig. 16: Polarization curves for all stacks at different operating times

9
(d) (e) (f) (g)
115 115 115 115

110 110 110 110

105 105 105 105

100 100 100 100

95 95 95 95

Stack 4 voltage [V]

Stack 5 voltage [V]
Stack 6 voltage [V]

90 90 90 90
average array voltage [V]

85 85 85 85

80 80 80 80
0 0.2 0.4 0 0.2 0.4 0 0.2 0.4 0 0.2 0.4
2 2 2 2
i [A/cm ] i [A/cm ] i [A/cm ] i [A/cm ]
unchanged with increasing current levels. No mass
transport limitations are observed in the region of high
current density. As the humidification setup is identical to
that of the other operating stages, the degradation cannot
result from increased flooding. These observations thus
point to a contamination of the MEA.
Drive Cycle Tests–Fig. 17 shows measurement data from
the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) obtained on the
dynamometer of the Swiss Federal Laboratories for
Materials Testing and Research, EMPA. The experiments
were conducted with a maximum fuel cell net power of 22
kW and a maximum gradient of 2.5 kW/s. The solid line in
plot (a) shows the measured vehicle speed, whereas the
target speed of the cycle is given by the thin dashed line.
The speed profile clearly shows that the NEDC is a
succession of four identical urban sections of about 200
seconds each, followed by a highway section. As expected,
the measurement data show a recurrent system behavior
for the four urban sections. For ease of reading, only the
first urban section (from 40 to 240 s) and the highway
section (from 820 to 1220 s) are depicted in plot (b) as well
as in the subsequent plots. Plot (c) shows the total DC
power drawn by the vehicle (electric motor and other power
consumers within the vehicle). The bold dashed lines in
plot (c) show the upper and lower dynamic saturation points
which limit the power that may be requested by the driver.
The net power output of the fuel cell system is indicated on
plot (d). The net power refers to the power fed into the DC
link. The power that is needed to supply the auxiliary
components of the fuel cell is not included in this value. The
sum of the net power and the power drawn by the auxiliary
components is the total fuel cell power, which is the product
of voltage and current. The fuel cell voltage and the current
density are shown in plot (e) and (f), respectively. The
supercapacitor power is shown in plot (g). Negative
supercapacitors power values indicate a power flow into the
cells, which means that they are being charged. Finally, the
state of charge (SOC) of the supercapacitors is depicted in
plot (h).
As evident from plot (a) the vehicle is able to match the
speed setpoint well, except for the final acceleration to 120
km/h. The supercapacitors were completely depleted by
that time and the vehicle is solely powered by the fuel cells.
(Remember that 180 V is the lower operating limit of the
supercapacitors, which corresponds to a 25% SOC.) The
22 kW supplied by the fuel cells are insufficient to
accelerate the vehicle to top speed within a reasonable
time. Clearly, the high transient and negative power
capabilities of the supercapacitors allow to smooth the
power profile of the fuel cell.
Table 2 lists the fuel consumption data of the vehicle during
the NEDC. Clearly visible is the deteriorating effect of
purging on the fuel consumption, as roughly 40% is wasted
hereby. It seems possible that in future experiments the
purged hydrogen can be recirculated by a pump with a
minimal additional parasitic power loss.
10
Table 2: Fuel Consumption for NEDC
lge*
kg H2
/100km
total consumption 0.309 10.8
consumption (excluding 0.176 6.16
purging loss)
consumption (excluding 0.127 4.45
purging loss and auxiliary
components)
* lge = gasoline equivalent and SOC corrected
For comparison:
BMW 7 Series Weight 1935 kg: 10..7 l/100km
Bora Original 55 kW Weight 1730 kg: 6.7 l/100km
CONCLUSION
The fuel cell vehicle was intended as a demonstration
platform to investigate new components in a realistic
surrounding. Complications with the peripheral equipment
were unavoidable, since many prototypes as well as
devices that were not designed for automotive usage were
used in the vehicle. Nevertheless, the experimental vehicle
was a major success. During the operation time a total
distance of about 1000 km was travelled and the vehicle
was demonstrated at numerous occasion, such as the
Geneva Motor Show or Earth Summit in Johannesburg in
2002.
Water management proved to be a critical aspect for the
efficient and stable operation of the fuel cells. Especially
the removal of liquid water was a limiting factor of the fuel
cell system. Condensation in the fuel cell channels, in the
manifold plate and in the piping resulted in the
accumulation of liquid in the fuel cell. For the present
experiment the removal of liquid water from the anode
could only be accomplished by feeding the fuel cell with
additional hydrogen, which was purged to the atmosphere.
The experiments showed that poisoning of the active area
of the electrode is facilitated by any extended time of
contact with liquid water. For one, impurities in the water
can effectively be absorbed on the electrode and secondly,
water promotes the distribution of poisons through
extended areas in the cells.
The hybrid powertrain presented here allows to keep the
fuel cell system comparably small, while achieving a high
peak power output for acceleration. Owing to the
hybridization with the supercapacitor, the powertrain shows
a good dynamic behavior. If the additional hydrogen flow
needed for the removal of liquid water from the anode is
recirculated effectively, an impressive total fuel
consumption in the region of 6 to 7 l/100km for the NEDC
cycle can be achieved.
 100
(a) v [km/h]
50

100 100
v [km/h]

(b)
50 50

0 0
40 40
PDC,tot [kW]

(c) 20 20
0 0
−20 −20
30 30
PFC,net [kW]

20 20
(d)
10 10

0 0
350 350

(e)
VFC [V]

300 300

250 250
0.4 0.4
iFC [A/cm2]

(f)
0.2 0.2

0 0
20 20
PSC [kW]

(g)
0 0

−20 −20
100 100
SOCSC [%]

(h)
50 Lower Limit Lower Limit 50

0 0
50 100 150 200 250 800 900 1000 1100 1200
time [s] time [s]

Fig. 17: Dynamometer measurements (a) and (b) vehicle, (c) total DC power, (d) net fuel cell power, (e) fuel cell voltage, (f) fuel cell current density,
(g) supercapacitor power, (h) supercapacitor state-of.charge SOC

11
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Financial support by the Swiss Federal Energy Office and

by AMAG Schweiz AG is gratefully acknowledged.

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